Fireforming with cream of wheat and had a huge problem!!!

[steve123]

Help!!!

I fireformed 50 rounds a week ago with cream of wheat and no problems. I used 9 grains of Clays, filled the case up with C of R and plugged the end with tissue.

Worked up a good load for my new 20x47L barrel and today was fireforming the next 50 rounds with C of R and something bizarre happened, pulled the trigger and nothing came out the barrel and no bang happened either, when I opened the bolt some gas pressure came out with a hiss. Something got stuck so hard in the barrel it won't come out. I tried pushing it out from both ends and no luck. I tried another round with 4 grains of C of R and same thing happened with the gas pressure coming out when I opened the bolt. I'm afraid of ruining my new barrel and/or blowing up my rifle by increasing the powder charge.

I can't imagine anything else being stuck in the barrel but C of R or the tissue or both????
The only solution I could think of is pooring water down the bore and letting the obstruction soak and soften.

Do you guys have any ideas on how to fix this stupid problem?

Thanks for any ideas.

Steve

 

[M-61]

If I am reading your post correctly.......you continued to fire a round(s) with something (no matter what) obstructing the barrel?
If you would clarify that for me....maybe it's my reading.

 

[steve123]

Not a loaded round with a bullet in it, just the 4 grains of powder.

 

[Cold Bore]

Not a loaded round with a bullet in it, just the 4 grains of powder.

Behind a plugged bore?

Doesn't matter whether you have a projectile, or more cream of wheat, or nothing but powder.

Pulling the trigger on a round with a plugged bore ain't smart.

 

[shooter63]

pour some kroll down barrel let it soak/ it should come out a little at a time / next time you use this method clean the chamber& barrel with a dry nylon brush /then blow remaining stuff if any/ out with air pressure at least every 10rds./ and shoot these slow you can heat up a barrel with this method/ so take your time do not try& blow it out with powder regards shooter63

 

[M-61]

OK....meaning I understand your post more clearly. It is very dangerous to fire any type of load (no matter how light the powder load) in a weapon with an obstructed barrel. To you first and then the weapon.
There are a bunch of experts on this site who can make suggestions on clearing whatever debris is stuck there and I am sure they will respond with invaluable info. All I know is the danger of continuing to fire the rifle. Don't do it!

 

[desilva]

that seems very odd to me as iv done the same method with my 20x47 custom using 11 grains of titegroup and packed with cous cous and tissue with no problems. cant seem to see what could be causing the blockage cus theres def no reason why anything should get stuck. In future though it would be a very good idea NOT to fire a second round again if the first has the same problem as u dont know whats going on in there and even with a small amount of powder theres still alot of pressure. With that said, what primers are u using? How old is the powder and has it got damp in any way? Try a new tub and see if the same problems happen.
i ran into misfire issues with CCI450's changed to Federals and have had no problems since.

 

[steve123]

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't of tried blowing the obstruction out with powder. Honestly I thought it would come right out???

I'll try the Kroil method and hope that it works.

 

[M-61]

Steve, I am sure you thought it would come out. It won't. No matter how light the powder charge you run the horrible risk of an explosion.
Not having a bullet in the case does not make the situation one bit better. The pressure will always take what IT determines is the path of least resistance and it does this in a micro-second. A plugged bore, even with something we think as not much of an obstacle (such as cream of wheat), could cause the barrel, receiver, bolt or all of the above to become 'the path of least resistance.'

 

[Geronimo Jim]

Man, I can't wait to hear the "rest of the story" !!!!

 

[mac86951]

Likewise, Let us know how it worked out!

-Mac

 

[steve123]

Thank God... the problem is solved, I sure hope my new barrel isn't ruined though!

The water soaking worked, it took a few wraps with the cleaning rod and the obstruction came loose but there was still quite a bit of resistance.

There were 2 plugs of tissue and C of L mixed together. I think what happened is the first one got partially stuck and not realizing that I fired another right after compounding the issue.

I learned two things.

1. I'm the only guy on the planet capable of creating such a fiasco, actually this just confirms my suspicions.

2. I found a new substance to line the outside of the space shuttle with.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[Old Navy]

I learned two things.

1. I'm the only guy on the planet capable of creating such a fiasco, actually this just confirms my suspicions.

2. I found a new substance to line the outside of the space shuttle with.

Thanks for your help guys!

I am sure you are not the only one to do this. Just the only one with enough guts to post it. Later! Frank

 

[Immike]

Run a tight patch down the barrel and feel for a bulge in the location of the jam. It will feel loose in that area if it has one. It most likely didn't hurt anything but if you want to check to see if you did any damage.

 

[Eddie Harren]

I have to ask this because of an incident, that happened 25 years ago. Customer brought in a rifle that was obviously a victim of high pressure. We hammered the bolt open and knocked the case out of the chamber, along with some pretty nasty goop. Turns out the guy had been using COW as case filler. The problem was, it was instant COW. Your COW was not by chance the instant variety?

 

[firearmdoc1]

The last time I fire formed brass with filler, I used a cork wad in the case which worked well. I had also removed the extractor so I had to use a rod to get the case out. Never thought about it before now, but I guess I would have known if I had an obstruction this way. Just what worked for me.

 

[steve123]

I have to ask this because of an incident, that happened 25 years ago. Customer brought in a rifle that was obviously a victim of high pressure. We hammered the bolt open and knocked the case out of the chamber, along with some pretty nasty goop. Turns out the guy had been using COW as case filler. The problem was, it was instant COW. Your COW was not by chance the instant variety?

It was instant COW.

LOL, I was so nervous yesterday I couldn't even abbreviate Cream of Wheat right, COW, OK I feel better now.

 

[steve123]

Run a tight patch down the barrel and feel for a bulge in the location of the jam. It will feel loose in that area if it has one. It most likely didn't hurt anything but if you want to check to see if you did any damage.

I cleaned the snot out of the barrel last night and couldn't feel a loose spot. I think I'm OK, a little worried about the crown though as I tried pushing from the muzzle end too.

 

[steve123]

Yesterday was a weird day altogether!

In the morning I shot some of the best 200Y groups in my life with this rifle, worst was .5 moa and best .2 moa.

COW thing happens later.

Then I stayed up late loading and discovered I hadn't tightened up the top of my Wilson seater die enough causing the seating depth of every round to get longer and longer. The felt plug in the die top was in there so hard I actually thought for a minute the hole wasn't drilled all the way through it and the set screw was bottoming out on metal, it required quite a bit of force to screw the set screw so it would push against the seating depth screw.

I was going to go PD hunting this morning but instead I have to find the best seating depth. The rifle was shooting so good I wasn't going to mess with depth right now and hadn't recorded what it was.

 

[bighorn06]

Thank for gaurdian angels. I have kept mine busy a few times, Mike